Xu Xiaoshou obediently shut his mouth.
Why were people these days so prone to anger?
Elder Sang glowered at him before picking up the overturned bottle, the pills spilling all over the floor, before packing them inside the bottle. He then pushed the bottle to Xu Xiaoshou.
"Consider this a meeting gift."
Xu Xiaoshou's eyes widened, and he asked with a puzzled look, "For me?"
"You see anyone else in the room?" Elder Sang rolled his eyes. "36 [Origin Court Pills], fitting the number of heavenly spirits. Quite an auspicious number."
"[Origin Court Pills]?"
"You don't know them?" Elder Sang noted the puzzled look on the kid's face and then asked, "You at least know the Spiritual Cultivation Pill, right?"
"Every single major level has a corresponding medicine for speeding up training. The pills are basically the most precious thing in said levels. Spiritual Cultivation Pills are meant for those still in the ten Spiritual Cultivation levels."
"And one more thing. Two grades make up one major level. Spiritual Cultivation Pills are considered at [Acquired Level], which places them at ninth grade."
Xu Xiaoshou then pointed at the bottles on the ground. "So these are…"
"[Innate Level] ones. Seventh-grade."
Xu Xiaoshou's jaw almost dropped to the floor.
Elder Sang chuckled and said, "Oh, don't mind me, I'm just…"
But before he was able to finish, the young man before him bowed, and his necklace appeared. The bottles on the ground were gone in an instant. "Thank you very much!"
Elder Sang was baffled. "Well..." he thought.
"This kid really is…"
"And here I was naïve enough to think that he'd actually be reluctant."
He was definitely naïve to think that.
There was just no way Xu Xiaoshou would've been reluctant to accept it. He'd simply been shocked earlier. That was all.
He'd been shocked to find that seventh-grade pills were actually crafted en masse. Didn't it cost money to make these things?
He felt like he was in a dream.
He figured that all the Spiritual Cultivation Pills stockpiled in his ring were worth less than a single [Origin Pill].
Seventh-grade pills, man…
"I only got one single [Innate Pill] after becoming the champion of the Wind and Cloud Contest, and that thing was just an eighth-grade pill," he thought to himself.
Elder Sang didn't seem to mind. So long as he had enough ingredients to spare, it would only take him mere hours to cook up more.
"Those should last you for quite some time," he said. "Remember, though. Try not to use them before reaching [Innate Level]. They might overwhelm you."
"But, hmm, you have [Innate Level Physique]. Whatever, you figure it out yourself."
He waved. "Come and get more when you've run out."
Xu Xiaoshou was stunned.
"Come and get more when I've run out?" he thought.
"Such extravagance!"
"Me likey!"
Elder Sang saw the greedy look on Xu Xiaoshou's face and couldn't help but add, "No need to be surprised. If there's one thing Alchemists are never lacking in, it's medicine. It'll be the same for you one day, so get used to it."
Xu Xiaoshou nodded, his face deadpan.
Truth be told, he'd had little interest in alchemy before, but Elder Sang prompting him to pick it up had motivated him.
"This is one h*ll of a way to get rich!" he thought.
"Passive Points are important, but no way would I skimp out on gaining material wealth!"
"Furthermore, those two things seem to go hand in hand anyway."
He imagined just how many looks of awe and admiration he would receive if he was able to whip out tens of bottles of pills just like that one day in the future.
Tsk, tsk!
He felt like he was about to salivate.
However, it didn't take him long to realize one key problem—"I don't actually have much talent. Will I be able to master alchemy?"
Elder Sang then answered dismissively, "You don't actually need to learn much. Your talents are enough for you to master it soon enough."
Someone capable of developing [Innate Sword Will] being of inferior talents?
Elder Sang chuckled and thought just how pretentious this disciple of his was.
Xu Xiaoshou, "....."
He had no idea why the old man had so much confidence in him, but Elder Sang was a veteran, which meant he definitely saw something in him that he'd never noticed himself.
Yeah.
That was definitely it!
Xu Xiaoshou clenched his fists and said, "I can't wait. Let's get to it!"
Elder Sang was pleased to see that his disciple was so motivated. He nodded and added, "Before we begin, there's still one more thing."
"Alchemy of the [Infernal Lineage] is different from that of other alchemists, which is something I'm sure you're already aware of."
"Due to the overbearing power of the [Infernal Heavenly Flames], we're just as violent and uncaring them with the processes of our alchemy, so much so that you could say that we have no techniques at all. The only thing to be mindful of is precise control of the flames."
Xu Xiaoshou gestured that he understood.
Earlier, he'd watched as Elder Sang dumped the herbs in such large batches that he didn't even bother dumping the berries in one by one when performing alchemy.
Anyone who wasn't in the know would've wondered if the elder was trying to make soup.
Any of the other alchemists would've immediately shouted in frustration.
But the elder controlled the flames with impeccable precision, which enabled him to instantly separate the ingredients yet cook them all at the same time.
This alone allowed him to drastically reduce the time needed for extracting the essences, which also affected the number of pills he could craft in one go.
The number was incredibly high.
Elder Sang put his hands behind his back and walked to the side of the window before adding sincerely and seriously, "Alchemy is but a side job. It can bring you immense wealth, but remember never to be engrossed in it."
"Spiritual Cultivation training is the main path you need to walk in the future. That much should never, ever change."
He turned around and stared at Xu Xiaoshou with his dark-circled eyes. "If your powers are unable to keep up, the better your alchemy gets, and the worse your life will become. Never forget that!"
Xu Xiaoshou couldn't help but recall their first lesson when the two of them officially became master and disciple. "The cage again?"
"Indeed."
Elder Sang nodded and added, "If such a thing were to happen, unless you were able to stay hidden, you'd be reduced to a mere tool doing alchemy for some huge cultivation forces out there—meaning, you'd completely lose your freedom."
"Understood!"
Xu Xiaoshou shuddered somewhat. What kinds of things had the old man gone through for him to have such in-depth knowledge of the world's brutal reality?
"So you're staying hidden now?" he then asked.
Elder Sang choked and glared at him in exasperation, yet he didn't retort. "I roam everywhere so as to keep myself from getting caught."
Xu Xiaoshou had only asked it out of a whim, not expecting that there really were some forces out there that truly had their sights set on this old man wearing a conical hat. He became rather flustered.
"So I'm in danger now because you became my master?"
Elder Sang was baffled.
[Belittled, Passive Points +1]
"At the level you're at now, you're not even fit for becoming a pawn! You're being afraid for nothing!" Elder Sang realized that he needed nerves of steel to talk to this kid.
[Ridiculed, Passive Points +1]
Xu Xiaoshou patted his chest and sighed in relief instead. "That's good to hear…"
Elder Sang touched the huge bathtub and said, "Use this thing for now."
"Remember. Alchemy of the [Infernal Lineage] is overwhelmingly powerful. Alchemists of other lineages might not be able to put up a fight, but not us."
"Alchemy is only a secondary goal. The main goal is to have you hone your control of the [Infernal Heavenly Flames] to perfection through the process of practicing alchemy so that if you ever run into any powerful enemies, you'll just see them as pills to be cooked."
Xu Xiaoshou's jaw almost dropped to the floor, and after quite some time, the only thing he was able to get out was, "This is awesome."
Elder Sang threw a ring at him. "When you go about extracting the essences later, put all of your focus into controlling the flames. No need to think about anything else."
"Your next goal is to use up all the ingredients in this ring to extract just a single drop of essence."
"There is a jade scroll, on which is all the common knowledge of alchemy. Remember to check that out first."
"All right. I'll be off, then. Take your time."
Xu Xiaoshou was about to say something else, but Elder Sang disappeared from where he was standing.
He looked at the massive tub, feeling speechless.
"So I'm all on my own now?" he thought.
"You let me watch you do it once and then thought I was good to do it all on my own?"
"You really think that I'm some kind of genius?"
He took a look at the ring and immediately slumped to the floor.
The number of herbs pilling up like mountains inside it was extremely overwhelming, and he wondered if that many herbs could've filled the entire first floor of the library.
He realized why the elder would leave him to work at it.
If he were to finish using up what was inside the ring, he'd probably master all he needed to master.
Xu Xiaoshou was lacking in many things, but tenacity wasn't one of them. He gritted his teeth and looked at the massive tub.
"Let's get to it!"